Sung Hiang Bwee is the emperor's daughter from his fourth concubine. A beautiful eighteen-year-old maiden who was as bewitching as a celestial goddess, this young princess had been trained in various arts since her childhood, with a special emphasis on dance. Her grace and mastery in dance were such that every time the emperor welcomed distinguished guests, the princess was commanded by her father to showcase her dancing skills.
As she was a princess, her status could not be compared to common dancers, and when she danced, everyone present knew her royal lineage, thus no one dared to utter any disrespectful words, only applause in praise of her spectacular performances.
There were many noblemen and rich men who had gone crazy over her, but the princess was not yet interested in mingling with men. The emperor also had not yet found a young man suitable to be her husband, so until she turned eighteen, Sung Hiang Bwee remained unmarried. She lived in the princess’s section of the palace and taught dance to the young princesses, her sisters, and nieces, daughters of elder and younger princes.
One night, after the princess finished teaching her students, she rested in a gazebo situated in a beautiful garden. The cool night wind after a session of sweaty dance practice felt refreshing. While she lounged on a bench, two handmaidens who served her, sat on the floor, waiting for their mistress to rest.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed and the two handmaidens suddenly felt their bodies stiffen, then go limp. They had been rendered unconscious by a touch. Hearing the sound of her handmaidens collapsing, Sung Hiang Bwee was startled and looked around.
She saw a man dressed in black with a black mask standing before her. Before she had a chance to scream, the man rendered her unconscious. She collapsed, remembering nothing.
The man in black then produced a large black bag and placed the princess's body inside. He shouldered the bag, and in a flash, he was gone, disappearing rapidly from the scene. No one else witnessed what he had done.
It turned out that the man was Ciang Sun Hok, the personal bodyguard of Prime Minister Jin Kui. He had planned everything meticulously, wearing black clothes and a mask so even if someone saw him, they would not recognize him. He had calculated everything, knowing the princess's routine of seeking a cool breeze in the garden after her dance practice.
Thus, it was easy for him to kidnap the princess, and after capturing her, he also took a secret route known only to the palace officials. In no time, he was out of the palace area, slipping between people's houses, and unbeknownst to anyone, he had jumped onto the roof of the An-lok inn.
He had already reserved a room at the back of the inn and instructed the inn owner not to let anyone approach that room.
Entering through the window, he went into the room, removed the princess from the silk bag, and laid her, still unconscious, on the bed. Sung Hiang Bwee had regained consciousness but could only look on helplessly in fear, unable to move or speak. She saw him leave the room and lock the door from the outside.
Ciang Sun Hok went out to gather information. Everything was quiet, indicating that the princess's disappearance had not been discovered, and he felt relieved. Now he just had to carry on with the plan: wait for Minister Jin Kui to send his concubines on a city tour early the next morning and sneak the princess into one of the carriages.
However, the carefully crafted plan failed to account for coincidences. Unknowingly, Tiong Li, who was in the royal city that night, stayed at the An-lok Inn! His room was at the back and since he was not asleep that night, he heard footsteps on the roof, no matter how careful Ciang Sun Hok was. If the kidnapper hadn't been carrying a load, Tiong Li might not have heard the footsteps, but the load was heavy enough to make his footsteps audible to Tiong Li's well-trained ears.
Of course, Tiong Li became suspicious after hearing footsteps on the roof. He quickly dressed, put on his shoes, and soon he was on the roof. The roof was quiet and Tiong Li began to spy on the back rooms.
And in the backmost room, he saw a girl lying on her back, completely motionless, her eyes darting around in fear. At a glance, he could tell that the girl was not lying there naturally and was possibly paralyzed. So, after easily unlocking the window, he jumped into the room.
Sung Hiang Bwee was startled, as a young man dressed in white suddenly jumped in through the window. She was shocked, but the young man put his index finger to his lips and whispered,
"Don't be afraid, miss. I'm here to help you!"
After saying this, he pressed certain points on the girl's body, enabling Hiang Bwee to move again. But because she was already intimidated, she didn't scream.
Suddenly, the room door opened, and Ciang Sun Hok, still wearing a mask, entered. He was shocked and surprised to see a young man in white already in the room and the princess sitting on the bed. He knew that the young man had saved her, so without saying much, he attacked Tiong Li with a powerful blow.
Ciang Sun Hok was a highly skilled fighter with immense strength. The punch aimed at Tiong Li created a harsh whistling wind. But Tiong Li calmly blocked the punch with his arm.
"Dukk..."
The two arms met and Ciang Sun Hok was greatly surprised, feeling as if he had met an extremely soft arm, so his strength vanished as soon as it met that arm!
He jumped to the side and attacked again with a stronger punch, this time with an open hand, pushing out like someone pushing a cart. This was the "Pushing the Golden Cart" move, a punch accompanied by a very strong internal force.
Seeing this, Tiong Li also pushed out his right hand, causing the two palms to meet in the air.
"Desss..." This time, Ciang Sun Hok felt his palm meet an extremely hard steel wall, and as a result, he was pushed back until he hit the wall.
The bodyguard was greatly surprised and realized that his opponent was very powerful. He was worried that the noise from the fight would alert others and his secret would be exposed, so without saying anything else, he slipped out of the room door and fled. It was better to leave now before his cover was blown! Tiong Li didn't chase him, but instead turned to the girl who sat frightened on the bed.
"Miss, who are you and what happened? Who is the man in the black mask?"
"Thank you for your help, tai-hiap. My name is Sung Hiang Bwee, a princess of the palace. Earlier, while in the palace garden, the man in the mask appeared and knocked me unconscious, then brought me here. I don't know who he is and why he kidnapped me."
Tiong Li was greatly surprised and for a moment he could only stare at the amazingly beautiful face. No wonder she is so beautiful and her clothes are so splendid, he thought. It turns out she's an Emperor's princess.
"Forgive me, miss. I didn't know you were a palace princess!" he said, bowing.
"That's alright, under these circumstances there's no need to be so formal," said Hiang Bwee. "You saved me from being kidnapped, please take me back to the palace!"
"Yes, Princess," said Tiong Li, bowing respectfully.
In the meantime, Ciang Sun Hok fled from the inn and went straight to Prime Minister Jin Kui to report his failure because of the appearance of a young man in white in the hotel room where he was holding Princess Sung Hiang Bwee hostage.
On hearing this, Jin Kui became angry.
"Could it be the same young man who caused Hak Bu Cu's death?"
"Quite possibly, tai-jin. His martial arts skills are truly amazing and because I was worried that the commotion would attract a lot of attention, I had to leave before anyone came."
"The princess will surely be escorted back to the palace. Let me personally lead the troops to intercept her," said Jin Kui, very annoyed that his plan had failed.
He then led two squads of bodyguards, followed by the martial artist Ciang Sun Hok, to intercept Princess Sung Hiang Bwee's return journey.
And so, when Tiong Li escorted the princess back to the palace on foot, they encountered the troops led by Prime Minister Jin Kui.
"Capture the kidnapper!" shouted the prime minister. Ciang Sun Hok and the guards had surrounded Tiong Li in a threatening manner. "Hold on!"
Princess Sung Hiang Bwee interjected, raising her hand.
"Jin-taijin, please don't misunderstand. This young man didn't kidnap me at all, in fact, he freed me from the kidnapper! If you gang up and hurt him, I will report to my father, the Emperor!"
Her threat hit home. Jin Kui immediately ordered his troops to retreat.
"Ah, is that so? Then we were mistaken.
What's your name, young man?"
"My name is Tan Tiong Li, taijin," Tiong Li replied respectfully. "By chance, I freed the princess from the kidnapper and fulfilled her command to escort her back to the palace."
"Well done, your merits will be recorded, Tiong Li. Now go and hand over the princess to us. We will escort her back to the palace."
"Alright, tai-jin."
"No, Jin-taijin. I want to invite my rescuer to the palace and report his deeds to my father, the Emperor!" said the princess and Jin Kui had no choice but to oblige. So, with his troops, he escorted the two of them into the palace.
That same night, the emperor received his daughter escorted by Tiong Li. The emperor was furious when he heard that his daughter had been kidnapped. Jin Kui, who was also present, preempted,
"There's no doubt, Your Majesty. This must be the work of those damn rebels!"
"Right, we must crush those rebels. If not, their actions will become increasingly brazen!"
The emperor then looked at Tiong Li, "What's your name, young man?"
"My name is Tan Tiong Li, Your Majesty."
"Tiong Li, you have done us a great service by saving our princess. Therefore, we wish to bestow upon you the rank of palace guard."
"A thousand apologies, Your Majesty. I am deeply grateful for the honor you bestow upon me. However, I need some time. At the moment, I have many personal matters that need to be resolved, so kindly allow me to resolve my personal matters first, then I shall obey your command."
"Hmmm, alright. When you've finished your business, come to us and we will bestow the rank upon you."
After receiving the emperor's consent, Tiong Li left the palace. However, when he reached the front room, someone suddenly called him.
Glossary
- Sung Hiang Bwee: The name of the Emperor's daughter from his fourth concubine. Sung Hiang Bwee is a character in this chapter of the novel.
- Jin Kui: The name of the Prime Minister in the story. Jin Kui is a character in this chapter of the novel.
- Ciang Sun Hok: The name of Jin Kui's personal bodyguard. Ciang Sun Hok is a character in this chapter of the novel.
- Tiong Li: The name of a young martial artist who helps Princess Sung Hiang Bwee. Tiong Li is a character in this chapter of the novel.
- An-lok Inn: The name of the inn where Tiong Li stays and where Ciang Sun Hok hides the kidnapped princess.
- "Pushing the Golden Cart": A martial arts technique used during a fight in this chapter of the novel. It involves the user pushing out with an open hand, as if pushing a cart, and is accompanied by a very strong internal force.
- tai-jin: An honorific used to respectfully address an elder or superior person.
- tai-hiap: An honorific used to respectfully address an older male, similar to "uncle" in English.